Languages
English *Geoff -- From English/French Geoffrey From a Norman French form of a Germanic name. The second element is Germanic frid "peace", but the first element may be either gawia "territory", walha "foreign" or gisil "hostage". It is possible that two or more names merged into a single form. In the later Middle Ages Geoffrey was further confused with the distinct name Godfrey. *Gypsy -- Short for Egyptian, however, they call themselves Rom. Gaelic *Geas -- In Irish, a geas (alternatives: geis, géis, deas; plural geasa) is an idiosyncratic taboo, whether of obligation or prohibition, similar to being under a vow. The plural is also used to mean specifically a spell prohibiting some action, common in Irish folklore and mythology. It is this additional meaning of the plural which the article discusses. The equivalent Scottish Gaelic word, also used in English, is "geas" German/Deutch *Burgomeister" might be the word for "Mayor" or perhaps "Sheriff." Said to be "Mordavian". Bürgermeister (literally: 'master of the citizens'), in German: in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland. In Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century; various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Russian (other Slovak terms) *Shto novaya -- which means, in my ancestor's language, 'What's new?' (should actually be "Chto" or Что) *Dobriy dyen -- Good afternoon. *Dasvidanya -- Goodbye. *Dobriy vyechyer -- Good evening. *Dazaftra -- See you tomorrow. *Kag dyela -- How are things? *Kopek -- From Russian копе́йка (kopéjka), from копьё (kopʹjó, “spear”) (from the image of a rider with a spear on the coins minted by Moscow after the capture of Novgorod in 1478). *Boyar -- A member of the old aristocracy in Russia, next in rank to a prince. A boyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian, Kievan, Moscovian, Wallachian and Moldavian and later, Romanian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes (in Bulgaria, tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century. *Dmitri -- From the name Demetrius from Demeter, Greek goddess. *Ivanov -- "Son of Ivan" Note: This one is interesting as Dmitri's father's name is Geoff, his father was Piotyr. Could the great-grandfather be named Ivan? *Rusalka (pl. Rusalki) -- Mermaid (In Czech can mean Water Witch or Nymph) Polish *Piotyr = Peter, Rock *Magda = From Magdalena/Magdalene, a title which meant "of Magdala". Mary Magdalene, a character in the New Testament, was named thus because she was from Magdala - a village on the Sea of Galilee whose name meant "tower" in Hebrew. She was cleaned of evil spirits by Jesus and then remained with him during his ministry, witnessing the crucifixion and the resurrection. She was a popular saint in the Middle Ages, and the name became common then. In England it is traditionally rendered Madeline, while Magdalene or Magdalen is the learned form. Usage: German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Croatian, Romanian, Portuguese, Greek. Hungarian *Jo napot kivanok = good day, good afternoon *Szia = Hello *fekete lelek = Black Soul Romany *Gorgio = non-gypsy Romanian *Nosferatu -- Possibly from a Romanian word for vampire. The term achieved popular currency through Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and F. W. Murnau's 1922 German film Nosferatu. Slavic *Chernovy -- corruption of Chernobog (or Chernovog). Could also mean follower of Chernovog. Chernobog (from Proto-Slavic *čĭrnŭ 'black' and *bogŭ "god") – also spelled as Chernabog, Czernobog, Chornoboh, Čiernoboh, Crnobog and Tchernobog – is a Slavic deity, whose name means black god, about whom much has been speculated but little can be said definitively. Black God is particular apt to "Dark One" "Avoozl" (and may be the same being). Latin Bellis perennis -- is a common European species of daisy, of the Asteraceae family, often considered the archetypal species of that name. Many related plants also share the name "daisy", so to distinguish this species from other daisies it is sometimes qualified as common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy. Historically, it has also been commonly known as bruisewort and occasionally woundwort (although the common name woundwort is now more closely associated with Stachys (woundworts)). Bellis perennis is native to western, central and northern Europe.